{¶1}
Defendant-appellant Michael Pendergrass appeals from his
conviction following a guilty plea. For the reasons that
follow, we affirm.

Procedural
and Substantive History

{¶2}
In August 2015, Pendergrass and his codefendant, Nathaniel
Adams, were indicted on multiple charges stemming from a rape
that occurred in 2003. The charges included several counts of
rape, complicity to commit rape, aggravated robbery, and
kidnapping. All charges included one- and three-year firearm
specifications. Several counts included a sexually violent
predator specification and/or sexual motivation
specification.

{¶3}
Ultimately, a plea agreement was reached. Pendergrass pleaded
guilty to three counts of rape, in violation of R.C.
2907.02(A)(2), and the attendant one- and three-year firearm
specifications (Counts 1, 2, and 3); three counts of
complicity to commit rape, in violation of R.C.
2923.03(A)(2), and the attendant one- and three-year firearm
specifications (Counts 4, 5, and 6); aggravated robbery, in
violation of R.C. 2911.01(A)(3), and its attendant one- and
three-year firearm specifications (Count 13); and kidnapping,
in violation of R.C. 2905.01(A)(4), and its attendant one-
and three-year firearm specification (Count 17). In exchange
for the guilty plea, the state agreed to dismiss all
remaining charges against Pendergrass, as well as the
sexually violent predator specifications and sexual
motivation specifications.

{¶4}
At the sentencing hearing, the prosecutor presented the facts
of the case, where he explained how two male strangers drove
up to the victim, who was walking on Cleveland's west
side, and asked the victim if she wanted to party. According
to the prosecutor, the two men then, at gunpoint, forced the
victim into the car, and they proceeded to drive around the
west side. The prosecutor stated that the two men took turns
beating and raping the victim. Both men raped her vaginally,
anally, and orally. When they were finished, they
"dumped" the victim, naked, in a parking lot. They
threw some clothes at her. She was eventually able to call
for help. An ambulance took her to the hospital for
treatment. The victim suffered bruising to her right eye,
face, and arms. She also had blood coming from her mouth,
resulting from a cut in her mouth, and she had redness and
swelling in her vaginal area. The hospital conducted a rape
kit, and DNA evidence was collected. Several years later, a
CODIS hit linked this DNA evidence to Pendergrass and his
codefendant.

{¶5}
The court heard from the victim, who stated that she has
endured physical pain, including some hearing loss and a scar
in her mouth, and 12 years of emotional torment. The victim
also stated that as a result of the brutal attack, she has
lost jobs and wages and she has had difficulty paying her
bills.

{¶7}
Thereafter, the court sentenced Pendergrass to six years in
prison on the rape in Count 1, six years on the rape in Count
2, and five years on the rape in Count 3, as well as three
years on the merged firearm specifications. The court ran the
sentences consecutively, after making the consecutive
sentence findings in accordance with R.C. 2929.14(C)(4). The
court then sentenced Pendergrass to concurrent six-year
prison terms on each of the remaining charges, which included
three counts of complicity (Counts 4, 5, and 6), aggravated
robbery (Count 13), and kidnapping (Count 17). The court
ordered the sentences on these remaining charges to be served
concurrently with the rape charges. The court also ordered
the sentence in this case to be served concurrently with the
sentence Pendergrass is presently serving on another matter.
The total prison sentence is 20 years.

{¶8}
After imposing sentence, the trial court advised Pendergrass
of mandatory postrelease control and the consequences for
violation. The court then imposed court costs and ordered
that Pendergrass may perform court community work service in
lieu of paying costs.

{¶9}
Pendergrass now appeals from his sentence, assigning the
following errors for our review:

I. Appellant's Sixth Amendment right to effective
assistance of counsel was violated by the trial court's
denial of his request to appoint new counsel.

II. The trial court erred by failing to merge all allied
offenses of similar import and by imposing separate sentences
for allied offenses which violated appellant's state and
federal rights to due process and protections against double
jeopardy.

III. The trial court erred by imposing consecutive sentences
that are contrary to law and not supported by the record.

IV. The trial court erred by imposing costs where it found
appellant indigent and failed to consider his inability to
pay.

Ineffective
Assistance of Counsel

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{&para;10}
In his first assignment of error, Pendergrass states that he
requested new counsel prior to the plea hearing, and the
trial court denied his right to effective assistance of
...

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